


hasten to defend (or, I Knew You Were Trouble.)

by ginexvra



Series: the art of war (and love) [4]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: (shamir and catherine are my gay moms), F/M, Hope that's cool, because he treats EVERYONE like they're special, byleth could be jealous, claude is that person who makes you wonder if you're special, i use my own byleth's name, mentions of shamir
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 17:56:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20568500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ginexvra/pseuds/ginexvra
Summary: "I was just - ""Flirting with Shamir. I heard."“Nonononononono, Teach, you’ve got it all wrong, that wasn’t what I meant to do at all.”“Oh, I see. Would you like to go back in there and clarify with Shamir that you were not, in fact, flirting with her?”----(Or, the way Claude charms the pants off everyone is bound to make Byleth jealous somehow)





	hasten to defend (or, I Knew You Were Trouble.)

**Author's Note:**

> I got through the Claude x Shamir supports, where he also uses the phrase “pique my interest” with her and Shamir accuses him of flirting.
> 
> This ensued.

Claude gives Shamir a salute goodbye as he saunters backwards out of the room - 

\- and spins right into Gloriana planted like a tree in the hallway, arms laden with dossiers of exam papers. From the pinched expression on her face, she’s definitely heard every word he and Shamir exchanged.

_Shit. _

"'Piqued your interest', has she? Do you say that to _ all _the intriguing older women you meet in this school?"

Claude’s smile changes from smooth to panicked as he takes Gloriana by the elbow and jauntily leads her away from the open doorway of the knights’ hall. "Teach! I didn't know you were there!"

She shrugs his hand off her arm like he was a spider. "Clearly." 

"I was just - "

"Flirting with Shamir. I heard."

"No, no,” Claude keeps his smile plastered on as he scrambles for words. “Nonononononono, Teach, you’ve got it all wrong, that wasn’t what I meant to do at all!”

“Oh, I see. Would you like to go back in there and clarify with Shamir that you were _ not _, in fact, flirting with her?”

Claude looks between Gloriana’s stony face and the door to the knights’ hall, where even now Shamir’s shouts as she attacks the training dummy are still audible, and he knows he’s been caught between a rock and a hard place. “I was just - ”

"Being charming? Manipulating another person into jumping in on your next scheme? Scouting out a new asset to serve the Alliance?"

"...trying to get to know her," he finishes lamely, knowing how stupid the words sound even before he says them. 

For such a cold expression, Gloriana’s stare burns into him like a brand. "You know, Claude, at least when Sylvain flirts, people understand he's only looking for a good time. No one ever knows what you're extorting from people until you've run off into the distance with it."

_ Ouch _ . Any other time, Claude would have been proud of this assessment of his, ahem, _ unique _people skills, but right now, each word feels like an arrow loosed right into the bullseye of his heart - and not in a good way.

Also, he really, _ really _doesn’t want her to get the wrong idea about which intriguing older woman in this school he actually wanted to be flirting with.

Gloriana makes to sweep past him then, now that she’s hit her mark, but he steps in front of her, hands up in surrender, desperate to save face before this conversation ends. "Teach, I swear, I wasn’t going to use her. And I wasn’t flirting with her. There’s no need to be jealous.”

Gloriana's eyebrows flick upwards faintly. "Why on earth would I be jealous of a lady colleague whom I happen to know prefers other ladies?"

Claude’s jaw drops to the floor.

"Really, Claude, you have a lot to learn about reading people before even thinking about playing with them. Now let me through, I’m busy.” Claude steps aside wordlessly in his shock.

"So, uh, we're still having afternoon tea tomorrow, aren't we?" He could be embarrassed that his voice comes out higher than usual as he throws out this last-ditch attempt, but this talk has been so disastrous, he’s past the point of shame. 

Gloriana doesn’t respond as she stalks to the end of the corridor and rounds the corner. And then, in the distance - "You can have it by yourself."

_ Yep. Shit. _

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for sticking around for another Claude/Gloriana cookie! I have a bunch of these I'll be uploading slowly once I fill in the gaps in between. <3
> 
> References used:
> 
> “hasten to defend” - from The Art of War by Sun Tzu: “Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected.” In other words, BOO! CLAUDE.
> 
> I Knew You Were Trouble. - from Red by Taylor Swift: “You never loved me, or her, or anyone, or anything”, a.k.a. what do you do with boys who make you feel special but also make everybody else feel special? Don't have tea with them, apparently.


End file.
